September 25, 2023 | Andrew Parkin
Trust in Elections
Trust in Elections
A Report from the 2023 AmericasBarometer Survey in Canada
Political news headlines in 2023 have been dominated by concerns about potential interference by foreign governments in recent Canadian elections, with opposition parties calling for a public inquiry into the matter. Against this backdrop, the 2023 AmericasBarometer Survey in Canada finds that most Canadians continue to have trust in elections in their country, with very few expressing low trust. However, a growing number of Canadians say that foreign governments may sometimes influence Canada’s election results.Key findings
- In 2023, 42 percent of Canadians express a high level of trust in elections, 47 percent express some trust, and only 10 percent have a low level of trust. The proportion with high trust in elections is five points lower than that recorded in 2021, but similar to 2017 and 2019, and higher than in 2014.
- Since 2021, the proportion saying that foreign governments may sometimes influence our election results has increased by 10 percentage points, from 56 percent to 66 percent. The proportion that says this never happens in Canada dropped by an equal amount, from 25 percent to 15 percent.
- A majority (60%) of Canadians say that votes are always counted correctly and fairly in elections in Canada and 33 percent say this sometimes happens; only five percent say this never happens. The proportion saying that votes are always counted correctly and fairly is down very slightly (by 4 points) since 2021.
For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Parkin or the Environics Institute for Survey Research.
The 2023 AmericasBarometer Canadian survey was conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with LAPOP at Vanderbilt University. It was conducted online with a representative sample of 2,500 Canadians (aged 18 and over) between July 20 and August 4, 2023.
Click here to see the evolution of the survey sample size, and sub-sample sizes by region, from 2010 to 2023.
Read the report on Trust in Elections
See the detailed data tables for the questions covered in this report.
Click here to see the evolution of the survey sample size, and sub-sample sizes by region, from 2010 to 2023.
Read the report on Trust in Elections
See the detailed data tables for the questions covered in this report.
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